


"Tenzin's gonna be so mad..."

by Elzzorr



Series: Soulmates Day [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, F/M, Lin is only a softy for Kya, Prequel, Soulmates AU, there's some metalbending rage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elzzorr/pseuds/Elzzorr
Summary: Lin and Tenzin's relationship has been strained, but Soulmates Day is around the corner. Will they have to resolve their differences as soulmates or move on with other people? Nothing could have prepared Lin to wake up in the Southern Water Tribe, but sometimes old relationships are destined by the spirits to be rekindled.This is a prequel to my other fic "Soulmates Day" so I recommend reading that first (it has more info on the soulmates part). This fic details Lin and Kya's experiences. Bonus: I added a part at the end of the fallout with Lin and Tenzin (you know, when she went crazy) but it's a bit tamer than the series made it sound, just because Kya's there to calm her down you know?
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II, Lin Beifong/Tenzin
Series: Soulmates Day [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843348
Comments: 9
Kudos: 147





	"Tenzin's gonna be so mad..."

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! If you haven't read the first part to this, I recommend you do so (or at least read the background info where I explain the "rules" of the soulmates stuff) before you read this. It's pretty rough since I kind of just threw it together so keep that in mind hehe. 
> 
> Some background: This takes place around 140 AG when Lin is 20 and Kya is 24 (Kya's age isn't really known but I just ball-parked it from looking at that family photo). Tenzin is 21. Aang is still alive and Toph is still Chief of Police. We'll assume Lin lives alone and not with Suyin (despite it seeming like it in that flashback). 
> 
> Thanks to "Angie" for requesting this!

**Many years ago on Soulmates Day…**

Lin hung up the phone with a sigh. Tenzin was not worried at all about tomorrow’s Soulmates Day, but Lin couldn’t help the nagging feeling in her stomach. She knew their relationship was already strained, but if they did turn out to be soulmates they would have to work through their issues. The metalbender rubbed her forehead as she remembered her argument with her boyfriend. Tenzin wanted kids-- lots of them-- to continue to rebuild the Air Nomad culture and continue Aang’s legacy. Lin, however, was perfectly content to never be a mother-- her relationship with her own had solidified that decision long before she and Tenzin started dating. 

As she flopped onto her bed she peered out the window to see Air Temple Island sitting out in Yue Bay. Though their relationship was unexpected by many (pretty much everyone), the childhood friends had a special bond from their youth. Tenzin got made fun of for being the youngest of his siblings and a “wussy airbender” while Lin was neglected or bullied from her lack of a father. While both had become powerful benders at a young age and could easily defend themselves, it still stung and they found comfort in each other. Tenzin’s calm demeanor and peaceful practices counterbalanced Lin’s temper and stiffness. They were good for each other.

At least, that’s what she had thought. Now, she was tortured by the prospect of tomorrow. Part of her wished they weren’t soulmates so they wouldn’t have to resolve their problems with having children, but she couldn’t bring herself to want to break up with him. She did love him, even if his ridiculous diplomatic personality and need to maintain his father’s legacy drove her crazy. 

She drowned in her thoughts before drifting away to a fitful sleep, visions of elephant koi leaping out of the sea filling her mind.

*

The next morning, the police officer’s eyes snapped open.  _ Where am I? _ She slowly took in her surroundings; she was in a rather large room with a roaring fire in the corner of the round room and animal pelts hung on the walls.  _ Oh my Raava… am I in a Water Tribe igloo?! _

She swung her legs out of the bed and ventured out of the room and past the rest of the enormous igloo and into the snow-covered outside. “Sweet flying-lemur-monkey I’m in the Southern Water Tribe!” That was when the officer realized she was standing out in the cold in only a tank top. She spun on her heels back into the igloo, looking for more clues as to whose house she woke up in and where she could get a decent jacket.

Upon reentering, she was startled by a figure in the other room. Lin cried out in surprise and took a battle stance before realizing that her earthbending probably wouldn’t work as well with the ground being covered in snow and ice. She cautiously ventured further into the room and her eyes widened in shock. “K-Katara? W-whaaa--”

She leaned against the wall as the older woman she knew so well walked over. “Lin! Oh my, what a surprise! I had no idea that you would be the one appearing in my home this morning. I prepared some breakfast and you’re in luck because I cooked up some seal bacon, your favorite.”

The waterbending master just went back to setting out all the food as if nothing was wrong. Lin just gaped at the woman she regards as an aunt. “I- I don’t understand. Tenzin lives on Air Temple Island with Aang, why would I be sent here?” She sat at the table at the older woman’s gesture.

Katara waterbent some tea into the mug in front of Lin. “Well, there is someone else who lives here in the South with me.” She knew she couldn’t reveal who exactly that was, but she expected the young metalbender to connect the dots for herself.

“Oh no. No no no.” Lin buried her face in her hands. “My soulmate is Kya…” she groaned.

“Now now, don’t sound so disappointed; she is still my daughter you know. Although I must say I am a little surprised that you went from dating my sweet little Tenzin to my brazen and adventurous Kya. I guess you two were close when you were younger…” Katara smiled.

Lin just continued to freak out. “She’s like four years older than me, I always thought of her as like an older sister or cousin… She would heal my training wounds and keep me company when Mom wasn’t around or she would always look out for me when no one else would... I mean she’s always been attractive to me with her hair and her smile and the way her eyes crinkle in amusement and--” she stopped at her new revelation and her cheeks turned red as Katara just smirked at her. “Kya is my soulmate.”

Her head dropped onto the table, spilling a bit of her tea onto the table.“Tenzin’s going to kill me…” Katara just bent the tea back and pat the young woman on the shoulder. 

“It’ll be alright, dear. If anything, this should be good. Tenzin told me about your… different goals. I believe Kya might agree with you more on that issue.”

Lin sighed and sat up properly, filling her plate with Southern Water Tribe breakfast standards. For once, her hard exterior was melting away as her “aunt” comforted her. “Thanks for breakfast and the reassurances, Katara.” 

“Anytime, dear.” She looked at a clock on the wall. “I’m assuming Kya woke up in Republic City, so you best be heading to your meeting point soon.” She went into a closet in the hall and brought back a fluffy coat. “This should fit you and keep you warmer than that tank top of yours.”

Lin pushed away her empty plate and made her way to the older woman. She took the coat in her hands and to both of their surprise, wrapped the waterbender in a tight hug. “Thank you,” she muttered into Katara’s shoulder. 

Katara smiled and bid her farewell. “Tell both of them I love them very much.” Lin nodded before walking back into the snowy land of the Southern Water Tribe. It took her a few minutes to recollect herself and focus on the task at hand: she needed to meet up with Kya. It only took her a few moments to recall her dream the previous night. Walking up to the boat station, she flashed the tattoo on her wrist. “One ticket to Kyoshi Island please.” The ticketmaster nodded upon seeing the tattoo and rang her up for a “Soulmates Day Special”-- a one-way ticket, free of charge. 

Once she was on the boat and watched as Harbor City shrank in the distance, Lin let out a large sigh. Though she should have been more upset about her not being soulmates with Tenzin, she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of being with the older woman. Sure, they had grown up like sisters, but she blushed as she recalled all the times she had seen the waterbender as…  _ something else. _ Shoving those thoughts aside, she braced herself for the trip ahead: the journey home.

**Meanwhile…**

Kya stretched her arms as sunlight filtered in through the window. Upon opening her eyes, she found herself in a plain one-bedroom apartment outlooking Yue Bay. There weren’t very many personal items laying about so she struggled to piece together the identity of her soulmate. It wasn’t until she snooped in the closet and found police uniforms that she found something interesting.  _ A cop? It’s a start, I guess… _ She continued to venture around the apartment before stumbling upon a note on the refrigerator. It had a list of reminders:  _ buy more beer, finish report for #6652 by 21st, Narook’s with Tenzin @ 8 _ . Her eyes widened in surprise. Her soulmate had dinner plans with her younger brother and was a cop… there was only one person she knew that fit that description. 

“Lin…” she breathed out, stunned. Then she began to laugh hysterically. All those years they spent together as kids and their more recent interactions marred by the awkwardness of Tenzin and Lin’s relationship came flooding back and she just laughed.  _ Oh the irony… Tenzin will be pissed! _

She remembered her dream from the previous night and immediately set off for the nearest airship station. Kya knew that the elephant koi meant something, so she booked a flight to Kyoshi Island to meet with her soulmate. 

*

Lin stepped off of the ship, nodding her head in thanks to the crew member helping passengers disembark. She knew that Kyoshi Island was about halfway in between Republic City and Harbor City so depending on when Kya left and whether she took a boat or airship, she would just have to wait until she arrived. The police officer found a place along the waterfront to camp out so she shed her warm coat and just leaned against a tree, watching as the elephant koi leapt out of the sparkling water.

A little while later and she had dozed off, the effects of her trip catching up with her. Because of this, she didn’t notice the airship land and a certain someone exit it.

Kya crept towards the sleeping figure, taking in the sight of the metalbender napping with a bit of drool collecting at the corner of her mouth. She laughed as she knelt down and gently shook a muscled shoulder. “Wake up sleepyhead.” 

Lin woke with a start, reflexes causing her to have her hands in attack position as she scrambled into an upright position. This caused the waterbender to laugh harder as Lin visibly relaxed when she realized her attacker was just Kya.

Kya. Her soulmate.  _ Oh, right… _

There was an awkward moment where neither of them knew what to say-- after all, how does one greet their soulmate when said soulmate was dating your little brother/is your ex-boyfriend’s sister? The tension was so thick that Sokka’s boomerang could have sliced right through it. 

“Um, hey.” Lin said, blushing and rubbing her neck.

“Hey yourself.” Kya said as she smiled and walked closer to the flustered police officer.

“Tenzin’s gonna be mad.” Lin blurted out. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to have that be the first thing I said to my soulmate but I couldn’t help it.”

Kya just chuckled at the stark differences between the hot-headed Lin she’s used to and the stuttering Lin standing before her now. “Technically, the first thing you said to me today was ‘um hey’ but we’ve said plenty of other things over the years so don’t worry about it too much.”

Another silence fell upon them, but this one was less awkward and more comfortable. “What did my mother say when she saw you? She said she was going to cook my soulmate breakfast…”

“And she did,” Lin confirmed. “I was very surprised to say the least, but she apparently wasn’t as taken off guard… she was kind of just like ‘oh hello Lin, come sit down and have breakfast, it’s nice to see you’ and didn’t really make a big deal of it.”

“Well, that’s Mom for you… What do you say we get some food and go home?”

Lin smiled widely for the first time in a while. “After you.” She tentatively grabbed the woman’s hand and was relieved when her advances were met with a grin.

While they sat next to each other on the northbound airship, Lin turned to her soulmate. “You know, I wasn’t super excited at the thought of you being my soulmate at first but… I’m really glad it’s you. I’ve kind of… had feelings for you that I didn’t even realize were there until now. But I am very happy to be here, with you. It’s… strange to say the least and it will be very awkward when we get back, but I am happy,” she said quietly, toying with the edge of her trusty white tank top. 

Kya looked at the metalbender with adoration. “Thanks for being honest with me, I know how hard it is for you to be emotional.” She grasped a pale and callused hand. “But I’m happy too. You’ll always be my little Linny, after all.” She pinched the officer’s flushed cheeks and laughed as Lin swatted her hand away.

“That can never happen in front of anybody. ANYBODY. I will be teased till the end of time.” She exasperatedly threw her head back. “... but you can call me Linny at home, if you want,” she added as an afterthought. 

Kya placed a gentle kiss on her soulmate’s pale cheek. “Who knew the future Chief of Police is such a softy?”

Lin blushed for the millionth time that day. “I’m only a softy for you.”

The two women smiled at each other before gazing out the window to see the sun reflecting off of the tops of the clouds. They were headed home, together. 

**BONUS:**

“YOU KNEW?” Lin screamed as she metalbent a pot at Tenzin. The airbender barely had time to deflect the cookware with a strong gust of wind. 

“Lin, listen please just let me explain--” he couldn’t finish as another pot flew at his head. 

“How could you?! It’s one thing to have us both wake up with different soulmates, but for you to have ‘sensed’ your connection to Pema and not said anything is a whole different story!” She continued to hurl kitchen items at him as he was resigned to let his ex-girlfriend’s anger subside. 

“To make things worse,” she threw a metal spoon at him, “she had feelings for you before and  _ flirted with you _ yet you still strung me along!” 

Tenzin winced as a metal salad bowl hit him in the stomach. “Hey, it’s not like I’m super happy about who  _ your _ soulmate is! Of all the people to have you be soulmates with, it just has to be Kya--” He shielded his head as the metalbender made a move to pull the oven out of the wall. 

“LIN, ENOUGH!” Kya said, stepping in between the two. “Calm down for a second and maybe we can sort this all out.” 

Lin’s chest was heaving as she caught her breath. Once Kya touched her shoulder, she calmed down and the floating pots and pans fell to the ground with a clatter, the oven returning to its spot.

The waterbender led Lin to the table and made her sit, gesturing for Tenzin to do the same. She had never seen such fear in her brother’s eyes. 

“Alright, since you two can’t seem to figure this out, I will have to sit here and play moderator. Lin, since you’ve already made your feelings clear, let’s have Tenzin share his side of the story first.”

Lin crossed her arms with a scowl, but it wasn’t directed at Kya. Tenzin warily started recalling what had happened. “I meant when I said I’m not sure I like the idea of you and Kya being soulmates. Imagine having your ex dating your sister… ” At the glares he got from both women he swallowed and moved on. “Anyway, it’s not that I knew that Pema and I were soulmates-- I was just as surprised as she was to wake up in her room. I must admit, I knew she had feelings for me for a long time while we were dating. BUT, out of respect to you and our relationship, I never let it go anywhere.” He stared right into fiery green eyes. “Even when we had our disagreement and I knew our future plans weren’t the same.”

Lin looked away, looking slightly guilty. “So I may have overreacted a little…” she admitted. “But you are lucky your sister cares about you so much because I would have started throwing knives or the bell from the tower before she stepped in. But, I spent so long feeling guilty that I couldn’t give you the life you wanted-- I really did love you at one point-- but now, that guilt is gone because you’ve found a soulmate who  _ does _ want to start a family with you, and I’ve found a soulmate who feels the same way I do.” She paused. “I’m sorry I threw so many things at you. But I’m not sorry about dating your sister now. You’ll just have to get used to it.”

The airbender cringed but nodded. “Apology accepted. I just hope we can move on from this as friends.”

Lin sighed and gave him a small smile. “Sure, Tenzin. If you ever need the help of RCPD, you know where to find me. Just don’t ever,  _ ever _ question my connection to Kya again.” She jabbed her finger into his chest and he nodded. 

After leaving the island with Kya, Lin turned to her new lover and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you.”

The waterbender squeezed the officer’s muscular back. “Of course, Lin. That’s what soulmates are for.”

Lin quirked an eyebrow with an amused smile. “For breaking up fights between younger brothers and soulmates because one is trying to kill the other?”

Kya nodded. “Exactly.” Both women burst into laughter and held hands as they boarded the ferry to take them back to Republic City. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!!
> 
> Tumblr: elzzorr


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